Adjectives to Describe the Characters in Julius Caesar

In spite of Shakespeare's close adherence to Plutarch for his material, his genius is seen in the character portrayal. Human nature was paramount with Shakespeare,
and the facts of history have been subordinated in his plays wherever they interfered with his conception of
character.

Julius Caesar

This tendency to place character conception before historic truth is best illustrated in Julius Caesar by the portrayal of Caesar himself. Shakespeare insists, despite history, that he is a tyrant, weak in body and mind, easily flattered, vain, superstitious.

5.Arrogant.
"If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way." III, i,
1.45.

Yet, although Caesar's weakness is thus emphasized, he rules throughout the play, especially after his death. The chief conspirators must at length fall before Caesar's spirit. Cassius's last words are "Caesar, thou art revenged," and Brutus ends his life with

. . . "Caesar, now be still;
I killed not thee with half so good a will."

Brutus

The second half of the play, roughly speaking, is the tragedy of Brutus. He is the idealist, the dreamer, so
universally respected that the conspirators seek him to give prestige to their cause. Love of country, of liberty,
of honor, are his guiding principles.

1.Patriotic and liberty loving.
a. "If it be aught toward the general good,
Set honor in one eye and death i' the other
And I will look on both indifferently." I. 2, I. 85-89.
b. "Oh, Rome, I make thee promise
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hands of Brutus."
II, I, 1. 56-58.
c. Not that I love Caesar less but that I loved
Rome more." III, 2, 1. 23.

2.Honorable.
a. "I love
The name of honor more than I fear death." I, 2, 1. 88.
b. "Oh he sits high in all the people's hearts."
(to end of speech). I, 3, 1. 157-160.

3.Idealistic.
"No, not an oath!" (to end of speech. 1. 1 14-140).
Romans need no other bond than their pledged
word.

As the play progresses, we retain all our respect for
Brutus's high moral character and disinterestedness, but
cannot fail to see that, though forced to act, he is not
qualified for action. His public life is only a series of
mistakes.

Himself the soul of honor, scorning to do anything
unworthy of a Roman, acting only for his country's welfare, he is incapable of imputing less honorable motives
to those with whom he is associated. Mark Antony, his political enemy, fitly pronounces him "the noblest Roman
of them all."

Portia

Portia, Brutus's wife, is also his counterpart. As he,
actuated by the principles of honor and love of country,
forces himself to perform deeds against his nature, so
Portia, exercising the self-restraint and noble dignity
suited to a woman "so fathered and so husbanded," holds
rigidly in check all the deep feeling, tenderness, and
anxiety that are aroused in her by her husband's and her
country's plight. (Act II, Sc. i, and II, 4.) When
finally her suppressed grief and suspense can no longer
be endured, her mind gives way and in a fit of madness
she takes her own life.

Cassius

Cassius is the foil to Brutus. He has all the practical gifts, the insight into character, the tact in dealing with
men which Brutus lacks, but he has not Brutus's disinterested love of country and high ideals.

But Brutus's moral power is so great that it overpowers Cassius's practical judgment, to the failure of
their cause.

At the outset, Shakespeare accents Cassius's unlovely
traits, his ambition opposing itself to Caesar's, his unscrupulous methods of drawing Brutus into the conspiracy. As the action progresses, however, we gain insight into Cassius's nobler side: his generosity in the reconciliation; (Act IV, Sc. 3) his sincere sympathy for
his friend's grief; (Act IV, Sc. 3) his deep affection for Brutus, "I cannot drink too much of Brutus's love";
and finally, his fortitude in meeting a self-inflicted death.

Antony

Antony, like Cassius, is a foil to Brutus. Like Cassius,
he is an astute, practical man of the world, but unlike
Cassius, he is fond of pleasure and adventure. Like
Cassius again, he is bound by ties of affection and admiration to a finer nature. His love for Caesar is sincere,
but he is shrewd and selfish enough to use it for his own ends.

Presented first merely as the gaiety-loving adventurer,
Antony reveals after Caesar's death an extraordinary insight into character, from Brutus' noble, unsuspicious
nature to the easily-swayed emotions of the mob.

In the opening scene of Act IV, more than nineteen
months after Caesar's assassination, we see Antony in
session with the other two triumvirs, and there is shown
still another phase of his character: cold-hearted cruelty
and selfish double-dealing. Lepidus, the third triumvir, is "a slight, unmeritable man, meet to be sent on
errands," but having done his part in easing Antony "of
divers slanderous loads," he is to be sent off "like to
the empty ass, to shake his ears." In making out the
proscriptions, he does not hesitate to add the names of
any he suspects may work him some injury, though his
sister's son is among them.

But however practical and unscrupulous his own nature, he was able to recognize and admire nobility of
character in another, as is shown in his frank appreciation of Brutus: